At CBS’ celebration of International Women’s Day, participants were asked to come up with suggestions that could bust the myth that gender equality had already been achieved in Denmark. CBS delivered one of three cases for discussion: How could CBS get more women to move up the academic hierarchy? “Male professors, give up power,” one suggested.

Anne M. Lykkegaard

Journalist

Two questions are asked every year on International Women’s Day. Is there anything left to fight for? Don’t we have gender equality already?

Well, if you ask Sofie Carsten Nielsen, member of parliament and the Danish Social Liberal Party (Radikale Venstre), she will give you this answer: “Let’s be frank, it’s bullshit and a mistake to think that there’s nothing left to fight for.”

And this was the answer she gave in her speech when CBS invited her to the celebration of International Women’s Day to discuss and find solutions to what she describes as the “greatest maintained myth of all” – that we have gender equality in Denmark.

“Denmark has not only been stalling, but moving backwards when it comes to gender equality. Even the majority of politicians don’t recognize the imbalance, and they keep telling us that there’s nothing left to fight for, or that the battle’s been won. But it’s bullshit. We must keep on fighting,” she said.

The new President of CBS, Nikolaj Malchow-Møller had his first public appearance after taking over the position on March 1, and he too pointed out Denmark’s poor gender equality compared to our neighbors.

“We like to think that we are a lot like our Nordic peers when it comes to gender equality, but we are actually lacking behind. According to the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index, we placed 14 in 2017,” he said and called for action.

“Diversity leads to better decisions, and right now we only seem to use part of the talent pool,” he stated.

Finding solutions in the GenderLAB

The event hosted a line-up of speakers – including the co-host of the event, Kvinfo’s CEO Henriette Laursen and CBS student, Nima Sophia Tisdall – as well as a laboratory called the GenderLAB.

Fact box: Representation of female professors in CBS departments

Here’s a list of all the departments and the number of female and male professors in each. The list only counts full professorships, and not professors with special responsibilities, Professor MSO, which is the step before becoming a full professor. The list does not include visiting professors.

Department of Management, Society and Communication

Women: 7

Men: 18

Department of Marketing

Women: 0

Men: 5

Department of Digitalization

Women: 1

Men: 8

Department of Finance

Women: 0

Men: 14

Department of International Economics, Government and Business

Women: 1

Men: 8

Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy

Women: 2

Men: 19

CBS LAW

Women: 3

Men: 6

Department of Organization

Women: 7

Men: 12

Department of Operations Management

Women: 1

Men: 6

Department of Accounting

Women: 0

Men: 5

Department of Strategy and Innovation

Women: 6

Men: 15

Department of Economics

Women: 1

Men: 9

Every participant got divided into three colors, each color representing one of the cases that were up for discussion at the GenderLAB.

The Danish Defence was looking for ways to obtain greater gender equality within the organization. Roskilde Festival wanted to gain input on how the festival can best ensure that guests are safe and free. And lastly CBS presented the issue of an enormous gender gap when moving up the academic ladder.

At CBS, women represent 20 percent of the professors, and the figures haven’t improved for 20 years. So what does it take to get more women into academia, especially the more senior positions? Well, these were some of the suggestions:

“Male professors, give up power.”

“More curriculum by female authors.”

“Increased transparency in recruitment to be compulsory. Ensure that the same number of male and female applicants are invited for interview and enforce stronger argumentation for final selection of candidates.”

Redefine recruitment criteria to make it more objective and inclusive for everyone.

Encourage male professors to start a discussion in their own classes. Force them to go through their own curricula, and consider not taking a job where there’s a gender imbalance demand 50/50 on panel debates etc.

Build a culture of being wholesome human beings, build trust, transparency and treasure diversity as the color of life and source of creativity and good selection.

Shake the table

Women are not only poorly represented in top positions within academia. They lag behind in the business sector too.

According to an article in the Danish newspaper, Berlingske, only 27 percent of leadership positions in Denmark are taken up by women. This makes Denmark stand out from its Nordic neighbors, and puts Denmark below the OECD average of 31 percent female leaders.

And Sofie Carsten Nielsen appealed to all women in leadership positions by asking them:

“Although we lag behind, Danish women have found their way to the table. But we need to shake it. It won’t be easy. No one will bring the gift of a gender-balanced labor market. We have to claim it. So if you have a seat at the table, shake it, and don’t keep the status quo,” she said.